Vendor News

Nokia finalises its April 2016 purchase of Withings-- the French health and wearables company now bears the name Nokia Body, while Withings products get a Nokia rebranding.

As a result, the Withings Body scale has been renamed to "Nokia Body Plus", the Withings Body Cardio is the "Nokia Body Cardio" and the Steel HR fitness-tracking watch is now known being sold as the "Nokia Steel HR." On the other hand the Aura sleep tracker is no more, since the company says it has been "on the market for a while" (having launched since 2014).

The rebranding also brings new products-- the Body smart scale, BPM+ blood pressure monitor and a Health mate app. The Body is connected scale able to solely tracky body weight, with no BMI or other functionality. Wifi and Bluetooth connectivity allows users to easily sync weight data with the companion app, and it is the lowest-cost smart scale offered by Nokia.

According to Blooomberg German company Bosch has won orders to supply "some" motion sensors for the next iPhone-- a possible blow to IvenSense, the current supplier of the aforementioned components.

An unnamed source claims Bosch may supply "as much as half" of iPhone motion sensors, with IvenSense supplying the rest. Bosch already provides Apple with barometric pressure sensors, at least according to gadget teardown sites such as iFixit, and rumour has the Bosch facility in Reutlingen, Germany finds use in the Apple self-driving car program.

Why would Apple want to change motion sensor supplier? This is actually a tactic commonly used the company-- one providing both component price competition and a fallback in case the main supplier can't keep up with demand. Of course, there are some exception. One of these is TSMC, who analysts believe has the monopoly on processors for the iPhone 7 and the 2017 iPhone.

The Electronic Times reports Google has invested 1 trillion won (or $880.29 million) in LG Display-- an investiment said to ensure Google gets enough OLED displays for the next Pixel Phone.

Reportedly, display supply was the reason Google faced shipping difficulties with the current Pixel phone. However, the ET adds the investment is not a display purchase order but part of a "strategic relationship" ensuring LG Display has enough capital to produce "flexible OLED panels" at scale.

Gaming peripheral maker Mad Catz is out of business, announcing it has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief with plans to liquidate all assets.

All Mad Catz directors and officers have also resigned, effective as of 30 March 2017, and other subsidiaries have filed or will file for liquidation under legislation in their countries of origin.

As CEO Karen McGinnis puts it, “regrettably and notwithstanding that for a significant amount of time the company has been actively pursuing its strategic alternatives, including various near-term financing alternatives such as bank financing and equity infusions, as well as potential sales of certain assets of the company or a sale of the company in its entirety, the company has been unable to find a satisfactory solution to its cash liquidity problems.”

Belkin announces an addition to the Mixit DuraTek durable cable line-- a USB-C cable featuring Kevlar-reinforced conductors and double-braided nylon shielding on the outside.
The USB-C cable is certified by both...

Snap-- aka the rebranded Snapchat-- announces the Spectacles, its video-recording sunglasses, are now available in Europe, 7 months after an initial US launch.
For the unfamiliar, the Spectacles are a pair...